It’s always nice to welcome new beers to the Russian River board. This one is another APA, brewed with Northern Brewer and Cascade hops.

It pours a nice and toasty golden color with great cream foam that results in a long lasting head on this brew. The aroma has a gently pleasing hoppy aroma with elements of grassy straw, lemon, and lemongrass in the mix. As I sip it I pick up some dry and grassy straw along with a very delicate touch of lemongrass. Finishes dry.

Had a glass at City Beer Store in San Francisco. With so many good pale options for craft beer lovers, it's hard to make an APA stand out, but damn if this doesn't achieve that distinction.

Segal is crisp with a little lighter body (it'd be a great session beer if not for the 6.2% ABV). There's an obvious sharp pine flavor but also a fruitier aroma and then a clean, floral rose undertone to the hops. A gentle toasty toffee malt note sneaks in for what's a very bright and drinkable ale. Great pale ale here.

T/M/O: Great pale ale! Crisp, clean, and well-hopped. The aftertaste is dry and the biscuity malt makes another appearance. Drinkable, pleasant, and flavorful. This is perhaps the ideal exemplar of the style. Highly recommended.

A - Pours a clear golden-orange color with a finger of frothy white head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some lace.

S - Aroma is a mix of citrus and pine hops with a some sweet caramel malt and a bit of biscuit.

T - Starts off with some grapefruit and pine hops with some bitterness and a bit of sweet malt in the background. Through the middle, more pine and earthy flavors with a touch of floral flavor come through with a bit of biscuit. The finish is a mix of resiny pine and some grapefruit hops with some sweet caramel malt.

Bought this growler at the pub 2 days ago while enjoying this year's Pliny The Younger. Served in a tapered 22oz glass.

Pours a clear pale gold with 1 1/2 fingers of off-white foam. Sticks around for a little bit and leaves some very fine lacing in the glass. Some cascading bubbles.

Hop aroma is more earthy than the other RR pales I've been drinking lately. Strong floral and spice notes. Some citrus and slight dankness in the background. Grainy malt.

Flavor tilts towards hops, but is somewhat well balanced (for an RR pale) with grainy malt and earthy spicy hops. Mild citrus bitterness pokes through in the middle and finish. A touch of sweetness in the middle of the flavor, but it doesn't last long and the finish is dry.

Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Seems about perfect for the style and is very drinkable.

A: Pours a clear honey golden with a very large, thick, and oily off-white head that took forever to fade into a rocky film leaving tons of sticky lace clinging to the glass.
S: Pale malts and light citrus and herbal hops come through on the nose. This one isn’t as potent as I was hoping.
T: Pretty light on the flavor with clean notes of citrus, grapefruit, biscuity malt, and a hint of herbal grassy pine. The bitterness in the finish is almost nonexistent. The aftertaste is a bit peppery. Not much to this one.
M: Very clean and light to drink, medium-light body with a light mouthfeel and moderate carbonation.
O: Good flavor I just wish there was more of it. There really isn’t that much going on here. Probably the least hoppy of the RRivers pale ales and/or hoppy beers.

Served on-draught into a sampler glass at Russian River's taproom in Santa Rosa during their 2012 Pliny the Younger release. Reviewed from notes. Expectations were high given the brewery, which is one of my favourites stateside.

A: Pours a half finger head of decent thickness, fair cream, and good retention. Colour is a clear yellow.

Sm: Hops and clean barley. A mild strength aroma.

T: Clean barley with some light hops on the climax. Incredibly simple - especially for the brewery. Not real well balanced but easy to drink.

Mf: Smooth and wet. A bit thin. Suits the flavours in a general sense.

Dr: Drinkable but rudimentary and simple. The quality is just not there. I wouldn't have it again.

Doughy nose, herbal and minty, lightly perfumey. It's pleasant but rather subdued, not really standout in any respect.

The palate, like the aroma, is evenly balanced between doughy pale malts and a gentle herbal hop profile. It's lightly floral, minty, not terribly bitter. Breadiness persists through the finish. The body is light and crisp, and it's a fairly dry beer front to back. Perfectly drinkable and enjoyable, but not as impressive as other pale ales from RRBC (Parking Violation, Row 2/Hill 56).

On tap at City Beer Store in San Francisco - served in a pint glass. Hadn't heard of this, so it was a pleasant surprise to find this one on tap.

A - Pours a pale gold color with some mild haze that gives a bit of a translucent glow. Low white head that manages to leave behind some nice lacing on the glass.

S - Hoppy up front with the usual mix of citrusy grapefruit with a bit of pine and some light biscuity malt underneath.

T - Biscuity malt at the base, layered on top with quite a bit of hops. For an APA, this is quite bitter but remains clean and refreshingly drinkable. Bitterness is crisp and clean with lots of grapefruity citrus and some pine on the fringes of the flavor.

O - Quite good overall. Lighter than other Russian River hoppy beers, but no less satisfying. This has more of a drinkable quality to it and gives the feeling that a number of these could be had in a session. Really hit the spot after a 1/2 hour walk thru the city on a warm summer day.

Thanks to Sean for this fresh growler... this is very similar to Hoppy Birthday but not as hoppy... bright gold body, looks good... the nose is really wonderful fresh and vibrant hops with some great pine and floral notes, nose is close to HB... taste is where HB is just so much bitter, the hops aren’t as strong but this is still to good and crushable... try this

A: It appears like a watered down pliny the elder with a sort of muted yellow and milder golden disposition, everything just feels like spinning a record at 33 rpm instead of 45 rpm. Muted but relaxing.

S: The smell is a vaporous fog of well balanced hops, some simcoe, some chinook but nothing worth writing home about, some mild lemon elements akin to the Boswer Jr. of Pliny the Elder, the misplaced child of Blind Pig.

T: the taste is more refreshing but less fulfilling than Bling Pig. It was like they phoned it in to attract a bigger audience or in an attempt to loop in a larger audience. That doesn't make sense though because this is incredibly limited. It seems like they made this as a loophole to attract beerlovers only to bait and switch them with a tame product.

M: Again, save the journal and the bic pen, this will be forgettable if for nothing else than its balance. Ok, if you enjoyed the movie SERENDIPITY and you love plot arches that are confusing but immediately resolve. Well here is your beer. I felt it shallow and judged it exceedingly hard due to my strict Russian River standards. It's like shaking your head at a mathlete due to not being able to postulate non-euclidian geometry. It is still good, but not good as I anticipated. There are some interesting peppery notes, but ultimately yawntastic.

D: This is where this beer shines, which always feels like a consolation prize. Drinkability is the "Best Sense of Humor" of the technical awards. While it is amazing and drinkable, this is hard to find, relatively expensive, and forgettable.

Narrative: Life as a cummulous cloud is not as glamorous as it seems. Sure you get to cascade across the sky buouyantly, impressing everyone with your majestic airs but ultimately you just end up as Iowa hail or Arizona drinking water. A fleeting life of gliding above the masses with condescending shapes is brought to task quickly with a wamr front or an affront from a mountain range. A world of Bourbon excellence comes crashing down immediately when the chinks in the armor are revealed. Upon further relfection, the cloud is only as majestic as its lasting quality. What previously looked like a flowing turtle now is a malignant sky tumor, descending in both strength and majesty. A child in a stroller looked up at the descending fog and felt it wet her face with a dew of what could have been.

Thanks to the Sean/nerd combo for this growler at DLD. Served in a SAVOR snifter.

Pours a light golden color with a really nice white head and quite a bit of lacing on the way down. The nose is really nice and loaded with hops--pretty strong floral component along with some citrus notes. Minimal malt backing. The flavor isn't quite as much of a hop bite as the aroma was hop perfume, but still quite nice and pleasurable. Moderate bitterness on a fairly light body. Good characteristics and highly refreshing. Light malt and pretty good hops all around; another RR winner.

Thanks to Sean for sharing this growler. This was right about the time my memory went at DLD. Growler FedEx aged.

A - Straw body that had a foamy white head and left behind some spots on the sides. Pretty nice looking APA.

S - Some grassy hops with a little bit of citrus and a touch of resin. There is a light malt backbone that supports the hops quite well, but this is a hop-focused APA, and a nice smelling one at that.

T - Taste is in line with the smell. Grass, citrus, and some malt backbone. Hops don't have the bite that something like Daisy Cutter does, but it is hoppy nonetheless. Tastes nice and refreshing, with some bitterness on the end providing a nice thirst quencher.

M - Lighter bodied with some lively carbonation that is good for this beer.

O - Really easy drinker and great tasting beer. Good for a hot day, would love to have again.

S - Light grassy hops, slight citrus, biscuit. All very light and mellow, nothing really takes control here although the grass is the main note I get.

T - Lots of grass with some citrus in there, slight malt note to round things out. Light hops all the way through. A little more sweet then I was expecting, but enjoyable.

M - Light, crisp, very refreshing, clean finish.

D - A very enjoyable APA, but not up there with Parking Violation or Hoppy Birthday. That said, I enjoyed the grass notes and slightly malt/biscuit sweetness for a change (rather then just straight forward hop assault). Recommend.

Feel is medium leaning towards lighter which makes this a very refreshing adult beverage. Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable APA. Between this and Alpine's Hoppy Birthday I may have to change my favorite style. Another winner from Vinnie and the crew at Russian River. If you see this be sure to get a pint.

grainy taste here -- bitters up front, but more dominated by the dry malty flavor. lacking in sweetness, but the Segal hops bring a dry bitter as well, it hits hard but mellows pretty quickly -- on the fruity side. i got little in the way of hop oil. it was a slow burner... grassy and dry.

the brewing is very high quality on this beer. for an on target American Pale -- this is a good full bodied beer. i would like a little more oil/resin and a touch more of sweet but it drinks WEST COAST, that's for sure. good and clean and dry. excellent hop feature pale ale.

Poured into my Delerium Noel tulip. A down the middle pour results in three fingers of dense white foam which dissipates slowly. Minimal lacing. The beer is a beautiful amber color. Crystal clear with a wonderful column of fine bubbles steadily climbing to the surface and forming a small hill of foam in the center of the glass. The aroma that greets my nose as I push it into the glass is sweet and citrusy. Sugar cookies and orange blossoms come to mind. Very nice. The taste follows the nose with big notes of orange, mango, and papaya. The hops are featured in this brew but the malt is artfully woven throughout, providing the perfect stage for the hops to act out their bitter drama. This is an APA? The exquisite blending of hoppy bitterness and sweet biscuity malt make this a joy to savor. Feel is medium leaning towards lighter which makes this a very refreshing adult beverage. Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable APA. Between this and Alpine's Hoppy Birthday I may have to change my favorite style. Another winner from Vinnie and the crew at Russian River. If you see this be sure to get a pint.